Tamariu (,

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

for ''tamarisk'') is one of three coastal towns belonging to the municipality of

Palafrugell Palafrugell () is a municipality in the Mediterranean ''Costa Brava'', located near Palamós in the ''comarca'' of Baix Empordà, in the province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. With 22,365 inhabitants it is the largest city of its comarca. Several ...

province of Girona Girona (; es, Gerona ; french: Gérone) is a province of Spain, in the northeastern part of the autonomous community of Catalonia. It is bordered on the northwest by the province of Lleida, on the southwest by the province of Barcelona, on the ...

, Spain, the other two being

Calella de Palafrugell Calella de Palafrugell is one of three coastal towns belonging to the municipality of Palafrugell in the province of Girona, Spain. The other two towns are Llafranc, only to the north, and Tamariu, some to the north. All three towns are part of ...

and

Llafranc Llafranc () is one of three coastal towns belonging to the municipality of Palafrugell, province of Girona, Spain, the other two being Calella de Palafrugell and Tamariu. It is part of the Costa Brava, the coastal region of northeastern Catalo ...

. It is part of the

Costa Brava The Costa Brava (, ; "Wild Coast" or "Rough Coast") is a coastal region of Catalonia in northeastern Spain. Whilst sources differ on the exact definition of the Costa Brava, it can be regarded as stretching from the town of Blanes, northeast o ...

, the coastal region of northeastern

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

, in the comarca of

Baix Empordà Baix Empordà in Catalan (; en, Lower Empordà, italic=yes) or Bajo Ampurdán in Spanish () is a ''comarca'' (county) in the province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. It is one of the two ''comarca'' into which Empordà was divided in the comarcal d ...

. It is situated about south of the border with

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and close to the nearby inland towns of

and Begur. The name ''Tamariu'' derives from the presence of many

tamarisk The genus ''Tamarix'' (tamarisk, salt cedar, taray) is composed of about 50–60 species of flowering plants in the family Tamaricaceae, native to drier areas of Eurasia and Africa. The generic name originated in Latin and may refer to the Tam ...

trees along the promenade, which separates the beach from the narrow streets and whitewashed buildings of the town. Tamariu was originally a small fishing village, and fishing boats are still to be seen drawn up on the beach. Today they have been joined by a few hotels, along with seafood restaurants, cafes and bars. Tamariu is set amongst rugged pine covered cliffs flanking the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

. The crystal clear waters around this area are amongst the purest on the coast. The south-facing

blue flag beach The Blue Flag is a certification by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) that a beach, marina, or sustainable boating tourism operator meets its standards. The Blue Flag is a trademark owned by FEE, which is a not-for-profit non-gov ...

is ideal for swimming as the it shelves at a fairly gentle angle. It is also popular as a

dive site Recreational dive sites are specific places that recreational scuba divers go to enjoy the underwater environment or for training purposes. They include technical diving sites beyond the range generally accepted for recreational diving. In this c ...

as there are many caves to explore along with the submerged mountain of the Llosa de Cala Nova. The

GR 92 The GR 92 is part of the extensive GR footpath network of paths, tracks and trails in Spain. It will eventually run the length of the Mediterranean coast of Spain, from Portbou, on the border with France to Tarifa, the most southerly point of Sp ...

long distance footpath, which runs the length of the Mediterranean coast of Spain, passes through the town. To the north the path takes an inland route through

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...

and

cork oak ''Quercus suber'', commonly called the cork oak, is a medium-sized, evergreen oak tree in the section ''Quercus'' sect. ''Cerris''. It is the primary source of cork for wine bottle stoppers and other uses, such as cork flooring and as the cores ...

forests to the beach at

Aiguablava The Cala d'Aiguablava is a small bay on the Costa Brava, Girona, Catalonia (Spain) near Begur and Palafrugell with a small beach (busy in the summer months) and a few mainly seafood restaurants. It is a popular mooring place for sailing and mot ...

before following the coast to Fornells. To the south the path follows an, in places rough, track above the shore line to the beach at , the , and the town of

. Aigua Gelida is the largest urbanisation in Tamariu filling the gap between Tamariu and Aiguablava. Aigua Gelida has a small sandy cove predominantly for residents of Cala Nostra just 300m away. Building restrictions are not as strict in Aigua Gelida and so many modern villas have been built in the past few years.

Gallery

File:Tamariu.JPG, The sea front File:Tamariu Beach.jpg, The beach

References

{{Baix Emporda Localities of Spain Populated places in Baix Empordà Seaside resorts in Spain